Principles

1. Great managers are not philosophers, entertainers, or doers. They are engineers. They see their organizations as machines and work assiduously to maintain and improve them.

   Principles

2. Like great musicians, all great managers have both creativity and technical skills.

   Principles

3. When you catch someone violating your rules and controls, make sure that everybody sees the consequences.

   Principles

4. Know what your people are like and what makes them tick, because your people are your most important resource.

   Principles

5. A higher percentage of the population than you might imagine will cheat if given the opportunity.

   Principles

6. Most people call something bad if it is bad for them or bad for those they empathize with, ignoring the greater good.

   Principles

7. Nature optimized for the whole, not for the individual.

   Principles

8. Typically, people’s conflicting beliefs or conflicting interests make them unable to see things through another’s eyes.

   Principles

9. To be good, something must operate consistently with the laws of reality and contribute to the evolution of the whole; that is what is most rewarded.

   Principles

10. You reach a point in all relationships when you must decide whether you are meant for each other— that’s common in private life and in any organization that holds very high standards.

    Principles

Up to 10 passages are published from each source.